This is the fall you ac­tu­ally get into run­ning.

Ev­ery­thing you need to know about run­ning.

More and more Cana­dian women are lac­ing up their neon train­ers, crank­ing their playlists and log­ging kilo­me­tres. From 2009 to 2014, na­tional par­tic­i­pa­tion in marathons grew by 11 per­cent, ac­cord­ing to the web­site RunRe­peat. South of the bor­der, the 5K and the 21.1-kilo­me­tre half­marathon are the most pop­u­lar. “Run­ning is af­ford­able,” says John Stan­ton, pres­i­dent and founder of the Run­ning Room. “You can do it solo or in a group, and it’s one of the quick­est ways to get in shape.”

We typ­i­cally burn about 60 calories per kilo­me­tre. Here’s how: Dur­ing a run, the body uses up glyco­gen, which is the glu­cose stored in your blood and mus­cles. This process re­quires oxy­gen, hence the req­ui­site huff­ing and puff­ing. Char­i­ots of Fire- ing your way through your neigh­bour­hood also builds bone mass, strength­ens the tis­sue around joints and can lower your risk of de­vel­op­ing de­men­tia and even boost your mood. It’s a happy hour, in­deed.